Greater Columbia Real Estate Market Update – March 2018

Show Me the Market

There is one question realtors hear when they first begin talking to a potential client: What’s happening in the market?

The market changes with the seasons. It changes due to economic crisis (or booms). It might even change simply because Samsung decided to build a new factory in the area (Newberry County). The real question buyers and sellers ask about the real estate market is because they want to know if it’s the right time to move.

Below are the key metrics for the real estate market in the greater Columbia area.

New Listings: How many people put their house up for sale?

Pending Sales: How many houses had contracts submitted and accepted?

Closed Sales: How many houses had ‘SOLD’ in their yards?

Median Sales Price: The ‘middle man’ sales price.

Average Sales Price: On average, how much did the homes in this area sell for?

Pct. Of List Price Received: How much of the original asking price are home sellers netting?

Market Breakdown by Area

While the above chart gives us a great view of what is happening across a large market, each area has its own smaller market affected by local happenings.

The City of Columbia area is one thriving in the new listings department. We see a healthy upwards increase of 5.2% in new listings in March 2018. We also can see the days on the market following the decreasing trend of the rest of the real estate market. Houses are selling 23.6% faster in March 2018 than they were in March 2017 in City of Columbia.

Columbia Northeast had 389 new listings in March, up 8.1% from this time last year. Home sales also increased from 254 to 273. However, even with the number of new listings increasing over 2017, the inventory of homes for sale has decreased by 13%. This indicates a healthy, growing market with increasing demand. It is a great time to sell and buy here.

Columbia East has been struggling this past month. Not only have the number of new listingsdecreased, but so have sales, and percent of list price received. Whereas most areas are seeing their listings have a shorter market time, Columbia East increased in market time. In March 2017, homes were averaging 68 days, but in March 2018, homes here are selling on average in 97 days. That is a 42.1% Increase in market time.

Housing market prices across the entire MLS are rising, so it should come as no surprise that the Lexington prices are as well. Not only have the prices in this area been higher than the average MLS price, but they have also been climbing at a higher rate most recently.

The price increase could be in response to there being fewer new listings than this time last year. In March of 2017, Lexington listed 333 new homes! On the other hand, in March 2018, only 281 new listings were brought to the table. Fewer listings and increased buyer demand means prices can continue to climb and people will continue to buy.